The Commission has decided to issue reasoned opinions against Ireland and the UK over their failure to comply with the obligations of the "Remedies" Directive on public procurement (89/665/EEC).

In its Alcatel judgment (Case C-81/98), the European Court of Justice stipulated that Member States were required to set up review procedures permitting a decision awarding a public procurement contract to be suspended and annulled at a stage where the infringement can still be rectified. This should allow an aggrieved tenderer to have a contracting authoritys decision suspended by way of interim measures and set aside, notwithstanding the possibility once the contract has been concluded of obtaining an award of damages.

In the Commissions view, neither Irish nor UK legislation currently complies in full with these requirements. The UK authorities are proposing amendments to their current remedies system, but the Commission does not consider these sufficient to comply with the Alcatel judgement. In the absence of a satisfactory response, the Commission may decide to refer the Member States to the European Court of Justice.